MURRIETA – The Colton Ken Hubbs baseball team evaded more obstacles to get to the Southern California South Divisional semifinals Tuesday night than your typical American Gladiators contestant.

But try as it might against Riverside Magnolia Center, Ken Hubbs wasn’t able to continue its run toward the Little League World Series, falling 15-3 in four innings in a nightmarish end to what had otherwise been a banner season.

Ken Hubbs had been extremely resilient to this point, fighting through injuries and the loser’s bracket to win the Section 8 Tournament last week in Rancho Cucamonga and winning its previous two games in the SoCal South tourney to stay alive.

But a freak injury and a disastrous fourth inning was too much to handle, even for a scrappy Ken Hubbs unit.

Tuesday started going south before the start of the third inning, as reserve Jake Ayala was hit in the head by a ball that took a funny hop off the grass during outfield warmups.

Ayala had been struck in the same area Sunday by a foul ball off his own bat. He left the field Tuesday dazed and was taken to Rancho Springs Hospital as a precautionary measure by paramedics after a 22-minute delay.

“It really puts everything into perspective,” Ken Hubbs coach Carlos Contreras said. “This is just a game and these are good kids playing their hearts out. Jake should be OK, but we just wanted to get him to the hospital and make sure everything was OK.”

Ken Hubbs was down 4-1 at the time and gave up a Magnolia Center run in the top of the third. But the Colton team showed resiliency, striking back for two runs in the bottom of the inning to move within 5-3.

Robert Rivas and Joe Ayala, Jake’s brother, came up with clutch two-out RBI hits, with Rivas’ double to left scoring Patrick Mejia and Ayala’s bloop single to right bringing in David Robles from third. Ayala scored Ken Hubbs’ other run in the second, leading off the inning with a double and scoring on a fielder’s choice by Vidal Villarreal.

But the two runs were only a temporary reprieve, as Magnolia Center scored 10 runs and sent 14 batters to the plate in the top of the fourth, all while Ken Hubbs sent five pitchers to the mound and made three of its uncharacteristic seven errors.

“We just didn’t play the way we normally do,” Contreras said. “I don’t know if the injury had something to do with it, but we weren’t playing Ken Hubbs baseball. It was a tough night.”

Magnolia Center, who advances to play Aliso Viejo in the SoCal South title game today, had a lot to do with Ken Hubbs’ struggles in the fourth as well. They started off the inning with a power surge, as second baseman Lucas Navigato and catcher Caleb Perry each hit two-run homers. Three batters reached on fielding errors, all of which scored.

Navigato, who drove in five runs on the night, also had a two-run, ground-rule double later in the inning, while Perry added an RBI single. Perry also put out two Ken Hubbs runners on the basepaths in the second, throwing out one straying off second and tagging out Cruz Duke at home when he tried to score on a wild pitch.

“You have to give Magnolia Center all the credit in the world,” Contreras said. “That’s a really good team and I wish them the best.

“I coached (pitcher) Griffin Barnes when he was 8 and we won a state championship, so I wish those guys the best of luck.”

As finales go, Tuesday night’s wasn’t exactly what the Ken Hubbs squad was hoping for. But Contreras was still cognizant of the quest he made with 13 players and two assistant coaches.

“We have nothing to hang our heads about,” Contreras said. “These kids stayed relaxed, had fun throughout and played some great baseball. That’s what it’s all about.”